Attitude of Extension Professionals Towards Agri-Expert Systems (original) (raw)
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Advances in Life Sciences, 2016
It has been suggested that 'agri-expert systems' might have a significant role in the future by enabling large number of people so that they can access human experts. It is, therefore, important to understand how potential users interact with these computer systems. This study investigates the level of awareness, frequency and nature of agri-expert system use by the extension professionals in Kerala with respect to Kerala Agricultural University (KAU) expert systems (KAU FERTULATOR and E-crop doctor) and Kissan Kerala expert system. A survey was conducted among three targeted segments of Kerala's extension professionals with a sample of 100 respondents actively involved in the field of agriculture. Results showed that the level of awareness among the respondents on agri-expert system was relatively high, frequency of agri-expert system use by extension professionals was occasional and nature of usefulness of agri-expert system perceived by extension professionals was very useful in case of KAU expert systems and useful in case of Kissan Kerala expert system.In order to improve awareness of extension professionals, necessary training should be given to them. Constant updating of agri-expert systems also increases frequencyand nature of usefulness of agri-expert system use by the extension professionals in Kerala.
Perceived motives for using the agri-expert systems by extension professionals
Eco. Env. & Cons, 2017
The problems in agriculture are often multidisciplinary and very complex becauseof affecting complex events. It has been suggested 'agri-expert systems' approaches will succeed with this kind of problems. It is, therefore, important to recogniseperceived motives for using these computer systems in agriculture. This study investigates the perceived motives for using the agri-expert systems by extension professionals with respect to Kerala Agricultural University (KAU) expert systems for fertilizer recommendation, pest, disease diagnosis, management of weeds in crop fields. A survey was conducted among three targeted segments of Kerala extension professionals with a sample of 100 respondents actively involved in the field of agriculture to rankperceived motives for using the agri-expert systems and to depict the agreement among the three targeted segments in rating the perceived motives for using agri-expert systems. Results showed the perceived reasons ranking by extension professionals in using agri-expert systems which revealed that 'saves a lot of time'as first ranked reason followed byease of use, correctness and reliability of advice, credibility of the developer, user interface, credibility of domain expert(s) and price of the systems respectively. Results also revealed that there was partial agreement in the rating/ranking of perceived motives for using agri-expert systems among extension professionals, front line extension personnel and scientists either at 0.05 or 0.10 percent level of significance. Based on these results there is greater need to enrich extension professionals' knowledge about the benefits of agri-expert systems by conducting appropriate training programmes in a timely manner even when experts wisdom is not available for effective decision making.
Percieved Information content of agri expert systems among extension professionals
Kerala State Council for Science, Technology and Environment, 2017
Results revealed that half of the respondents i.e. 50 per cent perceived that information content of agri-expert systems were of high completeness and understandability followed by medium (34%) and low (16%) respectively. In case of the agricultural officers’ distribution, more than half of the respondents’ i.e. 57.5 per cent respondents marked that information content of agri-expert systems understandability were high followed by medium (30%) and low (12.5%) respectively. With respect to front line extension personnel, 40 per cent respondents opined it as high followed by medium (36.66%) and low (23.33%) respectively. In case of scientists, half of the respondents i.e. 50 per cent opined that the same was high followed by medium (36.66%) and low (13.33%) respectively. Hence it was inferred that 50 per cent of the respondents felt, information content in terms of its completeness and understandability of agri-expert systems as high. This might be because expert systems were highly crop specific or technology specific than general packages. They are providing more information on preventive measures, biological control measures and cultural practices that too which was very precise. In all categories most of the respondents felt that information content of agri-expert systems was complete and understandable to the users.Based on these results, any expert system with reliable, accurate and retrievable information could be more user-friendly and more interactive to the extension community for effective agricultural decision making.
This communication focuses on adoption stages of extension professionals in terms of extent of use of expert systems and factors influencing the extent of adoption of such systems by them, with special reference to agri-expert systems 'KAU-Fertulator' and 'e-Crop doctor' developed by Kerala Agricultural University. A survey was conducted among three targeted segments of Kerala extension professionals with a total of 100 respondents who were actively involved in the field of agriculture, to evaluate questions about the adoption stage of respondents in using agri-expert systems and factors influencing the extent of adoption. Results showed that, extension professionals categori-zation based on the stage of agri-expert system adoption process. Based on the stage of adoption, respondents were categorized into different adopter categories, which led to comparison with Roger's adopter catego-rization. Also, innovation proneness was positively and significantly related with extent of adoption expert system among all three categories of respondents. Based on the results, it is imperative to boost the adoption of agri-expert systems by streamlining the basic expert system applications for ease of use.
Constraints Experienced by Extension Professionals in Using Expert Systems
Advances in Life Sciences, 2016
The paper focuses on theconstraints experienced by extension professionals in using expert systems.The need of expert systems for technical information transfer in agriculture can be identified by recognizing the problems in using the traditional system for technical information transfer. However there are some constraints experienced by extension professionals in using expert systems which needs to pay attention for effective utilization of expert systems by extension professionals' for the benefit of farming community. It is in this context a survey was conducted among three targeted segments of Kerala extension professionals with a total of 100 respondents who were actively involved in the field of agriculture. Based on discussion with scientists, experts in agriculture and also through relevant review of literature, 15 constraints experienced by extension professionals' were identified. These constraints were ranked from most important to least important in five point decreasing order of importance. Results showed that the major constraint faced by three targeted segments of Kerala extension professionals was 'lack of proper training' which was ranked first among 15 constraints. In order to overcome these constraints so as to enhance the capability of extension professionals in utilizing agricultural expert systems proper training should afford for augmenting the usage of expert systems among users. Expert system is a computer program that contains expert knowledge about a particular problem domain, often in the form of 'if-then' rules that is able to solve the problems at a level equivalent to or greater than human expert (Yelapure and Kulkarni, 2012). Expert system can be able to give timely, need specific and location specific information to the farming community through extension professionals. However, extension professional are experiencing numerous constraints in using expert systems which needs to pay attention for enhanced usage of expert systems in agriculture.Soekartawi (2005) identifies some problems in developing countries as being related to infrastructure and internet connection, human resources, policy support from government and pedagogy. He emphasises that human resources is one of crucial factors to diffuse utilizing ICT (Information Communication Technologies) to learners. Alemna and Sam (2006) have alluded to the problems of poor ICT infrastructure development, electricity, illiteracy and overbearing costs, as deterrents to ICT utilization in developing countries.Sing et al. (2009) found the difficulties in browsing the Internet based information resources. It was found that low speed Internet access, erratic power supply and lack of required full text journals are problems with regards to the use of Internet based e-resource.Sudaryanto (2011) stated that even though it is found that there was a growing interest of computer for agriculture development; inconsistency of IT (Information Technology) deployment across regions also creates constraints within an increasingly integrated global industry. As responsiveness and speed of business were critical to the success of e-agriculture, any technical constraints were impediments to the growth of the industry. At the same time, farmers have been somewhat slower to adopt computer and Internet technology. Some of this was related to place. Some was related to age (older individuals adopt computing more slowly) and personality traits that resist spending additional time inside doing record keeping. With a construal to augment the usage of expert systems among extension professionals' for the benefit of farming community and for decision making in various aspects of agriculture, a systematic appraisal of conceivable constraints experiencing by extension professionals towards expert systems was studied.
Diffusion and Adoption of Agri-Expert Systems Among Extension Professionals in Kerala
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH, 2014
The paper focuses on the diffusion-adoption stages in terms of extent of use of expert system technology vis a vis extension professionals in Kerala. A survey was conducted among three targeted segments of Kerala extension professionals to evaluate questions about the stage of respondent in using agri-expert systems for the benefit of farming community and effective agriculture decision making. The study was conducted among a sample 100 extension professionals actively involved in the field of agriculture. A pre tested and structured questionnaire was administered to collect data. The Diffusion-Adoption Model was employed to categorize extension professionals by stage in the technology adoption process. Based on the stage of adoption , respondents were categorised into different adopter categories which leads to comparison with Roger's adopter categorisation.
Adopter categorization of extension professionals vis a vis agri expert systems Ravikishore et al.
Current Science, 2017
This communication focuses on adoption stages of extension professionals in terms of extent of use of expert systems and factors influencing the extent of adoption of such systems by them, with special reference to agri-expert systems ‘KAU-Fertulator’ and ‘e-Crop doctor’ developed by Kerala Agricultural University. A survey was conducted among three targeted segments of Kerala extension professionals with a total of 100 respondents who were actively involved in the field of agriculture, to evaluate questions about the adoption stage of respondents in using agri-expert systems and factors influencing the extent of adoption. Results showed that, extension professionals categorization based on the stage of agri-expert system adoption process. Based on the stage of adoption, respondents were categorized into different adopter categories, which led to comparison with Roger’s adopter categorization. Also, innovation proneness was positively and significantly related with extent of adoption expert system among all three categories of respondents. Based on the results, it is imperative to boost the adoption of agri-expert systems by streamlining the basic expert system applications for ease of use.
Effectiveness index of expert system applications in agriculture
New Delhi Publishers, 2016
This research paper focuses on the assessment of the effectiveness index of expert system applications in agriculture with special reference to 'KAU-Fertulator ' and 'e-Crop doctor ', developed by Kerala Agricultural University. A survey was conducted among three targeted segments of Kerala extension professionals with a total of 100 respondents who were actively involved in the field of agriculture. Based on the relevant review of literature and discussion with experts effectiveness index of agri-expert system was developed and standardized using the applications such as quick availability and opportunity of the expert system to programme itself, expert systems ability to exploit a considerable amount of knowledge, reliability, scalability, pedagogy, expert systems ability on preservation and improvement of knowledge and expert systems ability to address the new areas neglected by conventional computing. These applications were ranked based on their mean scores in decreasing order of importance and effectiveness index was calculated to distribute the respondents in different categories. Results showed that the effectiveness index of expert system application in agriculture was generally medium. In order to improve the effectiveness index of agri-expert system applications in agriculture, it is necessary to augment the attributes of expert systems such as accuracy, timeliness, format clarity and relevancy of the information from agri-expert systems. Highlights • Effectiveness index of expert system applications in agriculture is the pioneer study which revealed that effectiveness index of expert system application in agriculture was generally medium.
A Review of Expert Systems in Agriculture
Role of expert systems in agriculture and its applications in efficient crop production and protection technologies has been reviewed and discussed in this paper. Different domains of agriculture are highlighted where expert systems can play an important role for an expert in transferring expert-driven knowledge instantly at the level of farmer's field. This paper explores structure of an expert system, role of expert system in agriculture along with details of expert system developed in the different field of agriculture and also possibilities of designing, developing and implementation of an expert system for agriculture would motivate scientists and extension workers to investigate possible applications for the benefit of entire agricultural community. INTRODUCTION This paper explores the possibilities of designing, developing and implementation of an Expert System for different activities of agriculture in integrated approach. The overall crop production management problems involve, among many others, management of diseases and insect-pests, integrated water and fertilizer managements, crop economics etc. The management problems also include the lack of enough experts and availability of experts at the farmer's field to support the crop growers. Each crop requires entirely different management practices and cropping pattern. Farmers may not know about all the information on production technology, so they need rapid access to all the possible information and need to take fast decisions to manage their crops efficiently and effectively. In order to raise a successful pulse crop and remain competitive, the modern farmers often rely on crop production specialists to assist them in arriving at the timely decision. Unfortunately, crop specialists are not always available for consultation at the nick of the time. To solve this problem, an Expert System (ES) may become a powerful tool which is a dire need of the day for
JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT, 2018
The development of agriculture plays a prominent role in a nation's economy, more so in the case of developing countries of the world. In India, agriculture is considered the backbone of the economy. Given the diversity of agro-ecological conditions across the country and the wide range of producers (small, and medium, large), the Indian agricultural enterprise is inevitably faced with a great diversity of needs, opportunities and prospects. With information being identified as a crucial component of the agricultural value chain, there is an urgent need to devise strategies which will enable improved access to such information as well as facilitate the exchange of information between stakeholders. Many impact evaluation studies reveal that the public-sector extension services despite using a variety of extension programs have not seen much success because they lack technological integration. Studies show that agricultural productivity is considerably influenced by human capital consisting of agricultural and rural extension programs. Thus there needs to be increased emphasis on involving all the stakeholders such as policy makers, educators, scientists, extension personnel in research, development and technology transfer activities and regular training of educators/researchers/extension personnel in SAUs and officers of the agricultural development departments in the use of ICTs. In this regard there is a need to probe into the factors that influence the current usage pattern of ICT among the educators and scientists involved in extension. This research paper makes an attempt to study the same. This study is concentrated in the Northeastern region (NER) of India as the region reportedly lags behind in technology implementation and adoption by farmers.